Editing Braddock Expedition (section)

=== Battle of the Monongahela ===<!-- This section is linked from [[History of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]] -->
{{Main|Battle of the Monongahela}}
[[Image:Braddock's death at the Battle of Monongahela 9-July-1755.jpg|thumb|left|225px|19th-century engraving of the wounding of Major-General Braddock at the ''Battle of the Monongahela''.]]

By July 8, 1755, the Braddock force was on the land owned by the Chief Scout, [[John Fraser (frontiersman)|Lieutenant John Fraser]]. That evening, the Native Americans sent delegates to the British to request a conference. Braddock chose Washington and Fraser as his emissaries. The Native Americans asked the British to halt their advance, claiming that the French could be persuaded to peacefully leave Fort Duquesne. Both Washington and Fraser recommended that Braddock approve the plan, but he demurred.

On July 9, 1755, Braddock's men crossed the Monongahela without opposition, about {{convert|10|mi|km}} south of Fort Duquesne. The advance guard of 300 grenadiers and colonials, accompanied by two cannon, and commanded by Lieutenant Colonel [[Thomas Gage]] began to move ahead. Washington tried to warn Braddock of the flaws in his plan — such as pointing out that the French and the Native Americans fought differently than the open-field style used by the British -- but his efforts were ignored: Braddock insisted that his troops fight as "gentlemen". Then, unexpectedly, Gage's advance guard came upon Beaujeu's party of French and Native Americans, who were hurrying to the river, behind schedule and too late to prepare an ambush.

In the skirmish that followed between Gage's soldiers and the French, Beaujeu was among those killed by the first volley of musket fire by the grenadiers. Although some 100 French Canadians fled back to the fort and the noise of the cannon held the Native Americans off, Beaujeu's death did not have a negative effect on French morale. Jean-Daniel Dumas, a French officer, rallied the rest of the French and their Native American allies. The battle, known as the '''Battle of the Monongahela''', or the ''Battle of the Wilderness'', or just ''Braddock's Defeat'', was officially begun. Braddock's force was approximately 1,400 men. The British faced a French and Native American force estimated to number between 300 and 900. The battle, frequently described as an [[ambush]], was actually a ''[[meeting engagement]]'', where two forces clash at an unexpected time and place. The quick and effective response of the French and Native Americans — despite the early loss of their commander — led many of Braddock's men to believe they had been ambushed. However, French battle reports state that while an ambush had been planned, the sudden arrival of the British forced a direct confrontation.

[[File:Plan of the Battle of Braddock's Defeat at the beginning of action July 9, 1755.jpg|thumb|right|Plan of the Battle at the beginning of action on July 9, 1755 (1830 engraving)]]After an exchange of fire, Gage's advance group fell back. In the narrow confines of the road, they collided with the main body of Braddock's force, which had advanced rapidly when the shots were heard. The entire column dissolved in disorder as the Canadian militiamen and Native Americans enveloped them and began firing from the dense woods on both sides. At this time, the French marines began advancing from the road and blocked any attempt by the British to move forward.

Following Braddock's example, the officers kept trying to form their men into standard battle lines so they could fire in formation - a strategy that did little but make the soldiers easy targets. The artillery teams tried to provide covering fire, but there was no space to load the pieces properly and the artillerymen had no protection from enemy sharpshooters. The provincial troops accompanying the British eventually broke ranks and ran into the woods to engage the French; confused by what they thought were enemy reinforcements, panicking British regulars started mistakenly firing on the provincials. After several hours of intense combat, Braddock was fatally shot off his horse, and effective resistance collapsed. Washington, although he had no official position in the chain of command, was able to impose and maintain some order. He formed a rear guard, which allowed the remnants of the force to disengage. This earned him the sobriquet ''Hero of the Monongahela'', by which he was toasted, and established his fame for some time to come.

{{Blockquote|text=We marched to that place, without any considerable loss, having only now and then a straggler picked up by the French and scouting Indians. When we came there, we were attacked by a party of French and Indians, whose number, I am persuaded, did not exceed three hundred men; while ours consisted of about one thousand three hundred well-armed troops, chiefly regular soldiers, who were struck with such a panic that they behaved with more cowardice than it is possible to conceive. The officers behaved gallantly, in order to encourage their men, for which they suffered greatly, there being near sixty killed and wounded; a large proportion of the number we had.|source=George Washington, July 18, 1755, letter to [[Mary Ball Washington|his mother]].<ref name="George Washington 1755, pp. 107-109">Similarly, Washington's report to Governor Dinwiddie. Charles H. Ambler, ''George Washington and the West'', University of North Carolina Press, 1936, pp. 107–109.</ref>}}